


shadows of the forest

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Bratva, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Murder, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Living Together, Panic Attacks, Past Kidnapping, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnancy, Raising a baby together, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Unplanned Pregnancy, major trigger warnings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 19:33:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13394742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: As a werewolf whose family was murdered, nothing much surprises Oliver. Then he finds a pregnant, traumatised girl in his forest, and his entire world shifts on its axis.





	shadows of the forest

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE HEED THE TRIGGER WARNINGS IN THE TAGS. If you are made uncomfortable by the idea of any of the content indicated by the tags, please do not feel obligated to read - put your mental health first xxx
> 
> I wrote this as a therapy exercise and decided to post it. Please do not ask me any personal questions about the content in this fic, but please feel free to leave comments about the fic itself, whether you enjoyed it etc, I would love feedback.
> 
> Massive thanks to Becky for her excellent beta-ing skills (this fic would be unreadable without her) and to Moni, Marian, Calli and Muriel for their support and encouragement - and for answering my questions, however weird or random they may seem.
> 
> EDIT: sorry about the initial posting with the weird formatting folks, fixed now!

* * *

**February 21st 2012**

Oliver was prowling through the woods, hunting for his next meal when he found the girl.

He was hungry. Then again, he was often hungry now. Being a werewolf who moved out of the city and into the forest, after his family were murdered by mercenaries, meant that food was no longer readily available. Since it was the end of winter, nearing spring, prey was quite scarce in Oliver’s territory. He hadn’t eaten in three days. That was okay. He was used to not eating very often.

But as he was stalking through the ferns as quietly as possible, following the scent of what smelt like a particularly plump deer, he came across the girl. Young and blonde, unconscious and curled up at the base of a tree and wearing a white dress. Where she had come from, he had no idea. Confused, Oliver slunk close to the ground, belly brushing against the twigs and brambles as he cautiously approached her. He swivelled his ears back and forth, sniffing the air as he glanced around suspiciously to make sure that this wasn’t a trap of any kind. But there was nothing. The only scent that filled his snout was the richness of the surrounding foliage and the girl’s natural scent, a strange combination of roses, cinnamon and cherries.

Settling down on his haunches next to her and gazing down at her sleeping face, Oliver couldn’t help but wonder how and why exactly the blonde was this far out in the woods. They were at least thirty miles away from any kind of civilisation. She had absolutely nothing on her, and considering she was dressed in only a flimsy white cotton dress, she obviously wasn’t hiking or camping. Her presence here made no sense. And that was what intrigued him even more.

Oliver bent his head down to nuzzle gently at her exposed shoulder, releasing a short, worried whine. She awoke suddenly, jerking her limbs, but barely startled when she blinked blearily up at the wolf. Oliver was a little surprised. If he had been woken up by a massive wolf pawing at him in the middle of the woods, he would have freaked out. Well, actually, he wouldn’t have, he would have just growled at the wolf to back off in clear language of the canines. But the girl was staring up at him looking as if she wasn’t shocked at all. She didn’t even seem scared.

In fact, Oliver was a bit scared of her. Because there was no way in hell that dead look in her eyes, and the fractured way the girl held herself, was normal.

Her voice was hoarse and exhausted as she whispered, “If you’re going to attack me, just do it.” Turning away, she tried to curl up tighter, but didn’t have the energy to, exhaling with a tired sigh. When Oliver didn’t move, just cocked his head at her in bemusement, she said in a defeated tone, “I don’t care anymore.”

He sat down, lowering his head and thumping his tail against the ground. Trying to convey to her that he was definitely not going to try and eat her, he licked his fangs lazily and looked away, flicking an ear. Very slowly, as if it pained every inch of her, the blonde attempted to sit up as well, shuffling so her back was supported against the tree, and it was as she moved, causing her dress to ride up, that Oliver saw why she seemed to be in so much agony. There were red welts all over her thighs. Her arms and back were covered in bruises, as if somebody had been hitting her and she’d curled up to try and protect herself but failed.

He backed away from her, tail between his hind legs as he growled. She’d been assaulted. And judging by the salty smell that filled the air as she moved and was coming from her lower body… she hadn’t just been assaulted physically. Oliver felt physically sick. He was almost shaking from his anger. This poor girl had to be - what, in her early twenties? And she’d been attacked, sexually assaulted and left in the woods, most likely to die.

“Figures, I get kidnapped and raped and dropped in the forest alone and the one wolf probably living in this entire state finds me and probably wants to eat me,” she said, resting her head back against the bark of the tree.

Well, that confirmed Oliver’s fears; he tossed his head angrily, snorting, before he calmed down when he realised she was getting upset. Tears welled in her eyes and she closed them, trying to scrub the traces of them away with dirt-covered hands.

“The universe must have some sort of grudge against me.”

Crooning softly, Oliver crawled forwards, slowly as not to scare her, before laying his head in her lap. In his wolf form, he couldn’t exactly offer her much comfort; wolves couldn’t hug or embrace people, or pat them on the back consolingly, but the one thing he could do was nudge and nuzzle and lick. He frowned slightly as he heard a very faint thudding, so fast it sounded like the beating of a hummingbird’s wings, but quickly forgot about it when the girl slid a hand between his ears, which caused him to arch his head up into her touch. She chuckled, the noise sounding harsh and forced. Her thin, fragile fingers cascaded through the fur at his scruff.

“I don’t deserve this,” she mumbled under her breath. “God, I help out the NSA once tracking down Bratva resources and the Russian Mob decides I’m important enough to kidnap.” Her fingers stilled in Oliver’s fur. “Doesn’t matter now, that was two years ago.” Horror swept through the wolf’s body, causing him to freeze and emit a quiet huff of shock. She laughed bitterly. “I should have just kept my head down. Did what those stupid mobsters wanted me to, stayed quiet and kept hacking whatever they put in front of me like I’d been doing for the twenty-three months. I shouldn’t have tried to contact the NSA. I’m such an idiot. Look at me now. I’ve been beaten and raped multiple times, ended up getting pregnant and now I’ve been dumped in the woods to die.” She sobbed. “I don’t want to die. I don’t know if I want this baby. I just feel _numb_ and _cold_ all the time. I’ve spent so long absolutely terrified of dying that I don’t think I’d know how to live without that hanging over me. But I don’t even know if I want to _live_ anymore.”

She began crying in earnest. Oliver could do nothing except whimper and rub his head against her gently, trying to offer even the smallest piece of comfort. It would be accurate to say that he was appalled. How anybody could treat another human being that way - she looked to be in her early twenties, for god’s sake, and appeared so innocent and friendly - he could not understand. The faint thrumming he’d heard earlier now made sense - the girl was carrying a child, a precious, unborn life within her. But it was the result of horrific circumstances. He desperately wanted to shift back into human form and hug her, wrap her up in his arms to provide some security and a faint feeling of safety, but he had no idea how he would be accepted. After being held against her own will, hurt and sexually assaulted by the Bratva - which was made up mainly of men - he didn’t know whether him shifting back into the form of a human male would help her right now. She might entirely freak out on him.

“I’m such a horrific mess,” she choked, trembling as she clutched onto Oliver’s pelt. “And I’m talking to a _wolf_ of all things about the most terrible two years of my life who can’t even understand me. I’m freezing to death and I haven’t eaten in days and I’m sitting here having a one-sided conversation with a wolf.”

She wasn’t kidding. She really did seem to be freezing, shivering due to how cold she was. Oliver raised his head from her lap and cast his gaze up to the sky, noting how the sky was darkening. It was nearing dusk, and the frigid night wind was beginning to blow through the trees. The girl didn’t have fur like Oliver, and probably wouldn’t be able to last out in the open of the forest without some sort of shelter. He made his decision within seconds - he needed to take her back to his cave, get her wrapped up in some blankets and brew her some hot tea to warm her up. He would feed her with some of the smoked rabbit he kept stored for severe emergencies and resume his hunting expedition in the morning to get them some fresh food.

Standing, he flicked his tail over her shoulder and bounded off, pausing to turn and glance at her, motioning at her to follow. The girl raised an eyebrow, staring at him. She didn’t understand. Huffing, Oliver loped back over to her and caught her cotton dress between his canines, tugging on it lightly to urge her to follow, careful not to tear it. She managed to stumble to her feet, using the tree to hold herself up.

“You want me to follow you?” she muttered. “Okay. Sure. What the hell. I’m going to die out here anyway, might as well follow the dangerous predator through the forest as it starts getting dark to an unknown location where there’s a high chance he’s going to rip me to shreds.”

Oliver didn’t snarl at her, just bared his teeth a little and pressed his ears back to his skull to show his distaste. He wasn’t going to attack her. He would have thought that the fact that he’d been gentle and friendly with her so far would mean she would trust him a bit. But he supposed that after two years of hell, it was only natural that the girl be suspicious of everyone and everything. A single random wolf being nice to her wasn’t going to erase two years where she was afraid every single day, every hour and minute, that she was going to get killed, or worse.

“Gonna struggle following you, buddy,” she sighed. “I can’t really walk properly because they hurt my legs, and if you haven’t already noticed, I’m not wearing shoes. They took my shoes. I haven’t had shoes or socks in two years. Oh god, what I wouldn’t give for a pair of fluffy socks.”

They made an odd pair, a wolf and a girl in a white dress staggering through the trees, the girl clinging onto the wolf’s shoulders for balance. Oliver tried to lead them along a path to his cave that would result in the least harm to her bare feet and was the least gruelling. He felt awful as he heard her hiccuping sobs, stopping every couple of minutes so they could rest and she could regain her breath. The girl rubbed her hand across her belly protectively, leaning onto the wolf so much that Oliver winced under her weight. Finally, they arrived at his cave after nearly half an hour of lumbering through the thicker vegetation that hid the sheltered clearing.

As he guided the girl inside, she looked around the space searchingly, surprise, puzzlement and then a sudden realisation passing over her face. She swept her gaze over the rug mats covering the stone floor, to the pile of blankets and pillows in the corner, the small wooden table with the locked chest on top of it. There were currently just candles lighting the space, although the wolf planned to change that sometime soon by getting some battery powered, electric lanterns. Oliver felt nervous. 

She seemed to know that he wasn’t some normal animal, glancing around and seeing his den filled with so many human objects and things. He helped her sit down on one of the rugs, dragging a blanket from his bed over for her before he slunk away and sat down in the corner, watching her cautiously.

“You’re not just a wolf, are you?” she asked quietly.

He shook his head hesitantly.

“Are you a werewolf?” she whispered.

He nodded, shooting her an apologetic look.

Swallowing, the girl glanced away, and there was no mistaking the sharp scent of fear that hit the air as soon as he confirmed that he was part human to her. “Are you going to hurt me?”  
It was like a punch in the gut. Whining, Oliver lowered his head to the ground, shaking it vehemently.

“Can you turn back?” she asked. “Please?”

He tilted his head.

“Why not?”

Oliver got back to his paws, trying to think of how he could convey that he was concerned she would freak out seeing him in the form of a male human into motion that she could comprehend. Eventually, he just looked pointedly at her, raised a paw to motion to himself, and lifted one of his hind legs and glanced pointedly underneath it.

A hint of a smile appeared on her face. “I’m not going to have a mental breakdown because you’re a guy. I promise. I’ll be fine. It would be nice to actually talk to somebody who won’t kill me for accidentally saying the wrong thing for once.”

The wolf bowed his head, snorting his agreement. If the girl wanted him to shift back into human form, would be more _comfortable_ with him in human form, then he was going to transform. Indicating to her to wait a moment, he slipped outside the cave and allowed that wave of heat to wash over him. Oliver remained crouched on his hands and knees for a minute, breathing deeply as the black spots in his vision from the exertion of the shift slowly faded. Standing took a lot more effort than he expected - the last time Oliver had been in human form was five days ago, and after walking on four paws for so long, suddenly becoming bipedal meant that he was staggering around, unused to two legs. Stretching his limbs and testing his balance, he headed back into the cave. Thank god his waterproof black pants and blue winter parka remained undamaged and on his body when he shifted, because that would have made things extremely awkward.

The girl froze as soon as she saw him, her gaze intense as she observed him for a second. Oliver worried his hands together, biting his lip. He paused at the entrance of the cave, allowing the poor girl to gather her thoughts and will back her fight-or-flight response. She raked her eyes up and down him, and then gradually started to relax.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she replied, her voice small.

“I’m Oliver,” he offered.

“Felicity.”

He nodded, relieved that she was opening up to him. He moved forward and sat down on the rug in front of her, crossing his legs. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I don’t really believe in promises,” Felicity said. “But I believe you.”

Noticing she was still shiveringly, Oliver leaned sideways to snag another blanket. He kept his movements clear and visible as he knelt and wrapped it around Felicity’s exposed shoulders. Her nimble fingers brushed against his own as she caught the corner of it to tug it tighter around her, and she flinched at the contact, her eyes flickering down to the ground. She was starting to reclaim some colour in her cheeks, so much so that the wolf could see her blushing.

“Thank you for not eating me,” she whispered. “Or attacking me. I’m sorry that I’m imposing.”

“You’re not imposing at all,” he reassured. “I’m sorry the last two years of your life have been utter shit.”

“Me too,” she said. “So why is a werewolf living out in the middle of nowhere in the forest? Besides the, you know, werewolf thing. Because it makes sense for a wolf to be lurking in the woods.”

Oliver shrugged. “Nothing left for me back in civilisation.”

Felicity tilted her head, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “No… friends?” she questioned. “No job? No family?”

It wasn’t particularly nice talking about his past, but Felicity had told him about hers, so it would incredibly rude and selfish not to answer her questions, considering they were perfectly legitimate ones.

“Friends found out I was a werewolf, set me up to get fired from my job. And then gave a bunch of hunter mercenaries my family’s address,” he responded. He tried to keep his expression blank and voice calm, separating himself from those terrible memories. “They were all murdered. I came home that night and found them dead. The police refused to investigate and said it was a home invasion gone wrong, that the perps were long gone. Even accused me at one point of slaughtering my own mother, father and little sister. When I say nothing, I mean _nothing_.”

Felicity just stared at him. He couldn’t even read how she was processing the information he gave her. She just looked… emotionless. He knew that she was feeling something - he could see it in her eyes, which were a beautiful blue, a bright spark replacing that dead look from earlier.

“I don’t have anybody either,” she said. “My dad left when I was seven, turned out he was a criminal, a hacker who attempted to destroy the internet multiple times. My mom died of cancer six months before I was kidnapped.”

“You have somebody,” he said, although he was hesitant to point this out. “You have -” he waved his hand towards her stomach, which he could now see had an ever so small bump to it.

Felicity glanced down, resting her hand on the bump. She sighed. “Yeah.”

“How many months are you?”

“... I don’t know, to be honest. Maybe a month or two? I found out… a couple of days ago. One of the men’s prostitutes snuck me a pregnancy test. The man who was… housing me, he found it in the trash. Went crazy. Hit me.”

“He doesn’t want the baby.”

“He left me out here to die. What do you think?” Felicity scoffed to herself, playing with her hands.

“Do you want the baby?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. There was a sudden skittishness and apprehension about her, causing her to shift restlessly. “It’s a baby resulting from rape. If I were the Felicity from before the kidnapping, I would get an abortion, no question about it. But I don’t know if I can now. I’ve been through too much. I don’t know if I can put myself through that mentally. But I’m also not sure whether or not I’d be able to love and raise this baby properly considering what it resulted from.”

Oliver shuffled so he was sitting next to her, and placed one of his hands on her knee, which was barely covered by her white cotton scrap of a dress. She jumped, but didn’t cower away from him, which he guessed was a good thing. “You should do what you think is best for you.”

“I need a reason to live,” she mumbled. “And the baby gives me that. But I can’t raise a child by myself. And I can’t go back to the city. I don’t know what to do.”

Oliver’s heart leapt into his throat. His chest tightening, he proposed tentatively, “You could stay here.” He’d been alone for so long that having somebody else around - somebody _human_ \- might help keep his wild wolf instincts at bay, keep him grounded.

Felicity turned to face him, making direct eye contact. She appeared confused, and stunned. “With you?”

“If you want. I’m not going to lie, it’s not an easy life living out in the woods, but at least it will be a simple one. I can hunt and feed us both. I can help you look after the baby. This is just a suggestion though. I’m not going to force or influence you into anything. You’re your own person and can make your own decisions. I just wanted to offer you another option that you might not have thought of before.”

Gazing at him in sheer disbelief, she murmured, “I haven’t got any clothes.”

“I have a friend,” Oliver informed her. “He’s the forest ranger, his name’s John Diggle. He brings fresh clothes, bottled water and first aid supplies every month. I can ask him to get you new clothes.”

She regarded him with narrowed eyes, as if attempting to suss him out. Eventually, she ducked her head and cracked a shy smile. 

“That would be nice.

“You’re going to stay?”

“If you’ll have me.”

“You’re more than welcome here.” He cast a glance back at his pile of blankets. “Although we might have to ask Diggle to get some sort of cot. I can sleep on the floor in my wolf form, but you’ll freeze to death without a proper bed.”

She laughed softly. It was without any hint of bitterness or sarcasm, and it was _wonderful_. “I’m guessing there isn’t any kind of shower or fridge here either.”

“There’s a gentle river with a small waterfall for bathing, I get all the vegetation and fungi fresh and smoke whatever meat I’m able to catch so it lasts longer.” He grinned at her dubious expression. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I hope so,” she muttered, and then she leaned sideways into his side, propping her head on his shoulder, and reached over to grab and squeeze his hand. “As long as I don’t have to wear any sort of dresses like this, warm your bed or hack secure government files, I think we’re gonna be okay. And since you’re technically a big, fluffy puppy, and I adore dogs, we’ll be fine.”

“A big, fluffy puppy?”

“With a lot of teeth,” she added.

He laughed.

“Do you have any food?” she questioned. “Because I’m so hungry. And still cold.”

“I’ll get you a sweatshirt, a bottle of water and some smoked meat.” He began standing, and paused in his journey to his storage area. “We’re going to have to ask Dig to get you some prenatal vitamins. The diet you’re on when you’re out here isn’t going to be good for the baby.”

“If I eat like a werewolf for long enough, will I turn into one?” she mused. “Will the baby?”

“Let me know if you start growing fur and your teeth start turning into fangs.”

* * *

**February 21st 2013**

Joey blew bubbles against Oliver’s shoulder as he rocked him gently, trying to get the infant to sleep. Felicity was already conked out on her cot in the corner of the cave, and he could see her peaceful expression thanks to the glow of the electric lanterns illuminating the space. She was exhausted. She was always exhausted nowadays, it seemed.

Joseph Ethan Smoak’s birth on Christmas Day had been an extremely stressful time for them. They wouldn’t have got through it without John Diggle’s aid. Felicity had been extremely wary of Diggle at first. She told Oliver that it was the sheer size of the man that intimidated her, made her feel small and insignificant like the men in the Bratva did, although they did it by beating and raping her. Eventually, she and Diggle became good friends. The forest ranger allowed them to use his cabin as shelter when Felicity went into labour and acted as a midwife, his medical expertise from the special forces shining through; it was thanks to him that the birth went well, Felicity and her baby boy coming out of it perfectly healthy.

Felicity had chosen the names Joseph and Ethan due to their Hebrew origins. Together, the full meaning of the baby’s name meant ‘to add strength’. It was symbolic of the fact that it was the baby who had helped Felicity keep fighting, giving her a reason to live after she’d suffered so much over the years. Joseph Ethan Smoak was her strength in life.

Joseph, who they nicknamed Joey, changed everything.They were forced to go to Diggle for help with supplies more often, as stress meant that Felicity wasn’t producing enough milk to breastfeed, and they needed a _lot_ of diapers and baby clothes. Oliver had tried to help out with the newborn as much as possible, but didn’t want to encroach on Felicity’s space. She was very protective of Joey. After living together for a year, she and Oliver had become the best of friends. They relied upon and trusted each other with everything. But when it came to her son, Felicity become anxious whenever he wasn’t in her arms.

Joey gnawing on his t-shirt and accidentally smacking the wolf in the face with one of his tiny hands drew Oliver back to the present, and he smiled as the baby stared at him, blinking bright blue eyes curiously. He already had a mop of blonde hair on his head and looked exactly like his mother.

Oliver had to admit that he was also protective of the baby; within his own head, he thought of Joseph as a son, although he never admitted that aloud to Felicity. Joey would never know his real dad. So Oliver was going to act as his surrogate one, for as long as Felicity would allow him to. His wolf absolutely adored Joey, doting over him. He always got this inexplicable urge to nuzzle and lick at the nearly three-month-old, and since Joey loved the wolf, always squealing happily and tangling his fingers in his fur, they spent a lot of time together.

“Mommy’s sleeping,” he whispered to the baby, walking over so the baby could see Felicity, where she was unconscious on her cot. “See? She’s tired. I’m going to feed and look after you tonight, ‘kay, buddy?”

Joey hid his face in Oliver’s neck with a sigh. He clung to the wolf, however, so Oliver knew that the baby was okay with staying with him. He headed over to their storage area, pulling out the baby bottle he’d sterilised earlier and mixing up a milk solution, holding it over the fire using a long pair of homemade wooden tongs for a minute to heat it up.

“It’s your bottle, buddy,” Oliver murmured to him, carrying Joey over so he could sit down in his nest on the ground and shifting him carefully in his arms. He adjusted the fleece and fake fur lined blue baby grow he was wearing so he was more comfortable. The baby perked up immediately upon hearing the word ‘bottle’, eyes widening and raising his hands a little. He instantly began sucking and drinking eagerly as soon as Oliver placed the bottle’s nipple close to his mouth. “Wow, somebody’s hungry, huh?”

Joey finished the bottle in record time, letting out a cry of dismay as the flow of milk ended. Oliver immediately began the job of burping him, settling himself against the cold wall near their generator-powered heater.

“I still can’t believe how tiny you are,” he said to the baby, slapping his back softly as Joey occasionally spat up onto the towel slung over Oliver’s shoulder. “You barely fit into my hands when you were born, you know. Felicity and I were so scared for you. Born in the middle of winter, so small and weighing so little. But we knew you were a strong one. Your mom, she’s amazing, Joey. She’s so incredibly strong, that’s where you get it from.”

“What are you talking to him about?” came Felicity’s slightly slurred, exhausted voice from her cot. He glanced over at her, and nearly burst out laughing when he saw she was sitting up, her blankets half falling off her shoulders and hair looking like a bird’s nest.

“How great his mom is,” he replied. “You can go back to sleep, I’ve got him.”

Instead of lying back down, Felicity gathered her blankets and pillows from the bed, dumping them on the rugs before dragging her cot mattress onto the ground next to the heater and piling everything back on top of it. She collapsed onto it but shifted so she only taking up half of it, patting the clear side with her hand.

“Shift, bring Joey and let’s cuddle,” she mumbled. “I wanna snuggle with my baby and my wolf.”

Oliver wasn’t one to deny a tired, sleep-deprived mother of an infant what she wanted, so crawled over with Joey held protectively to his chest. He carefully arranged the baby on the mattress between two rolled up towels so he didn’t roll over, tucking a blanket around him tightly so he didn’t accidentally smother himself during the night. 

Then, well aware that Felicity’s piercing blue gaze was fixed on him, he allowed himself to be enveloped by heat. When Oliver stretched himself out, it was by arching his back so his hindquarters rose in the air, claws of his front paws digging into the mats as he yawned.  
Joey immediately squealed with delight at the sight of the wolf. Huffing, Oliver nosed at the baby gently, ears flicking as the two-month-old grasped at them with podgy hands. He purred in pleasure as he felt Felicity’s fingers stroking behind his ears and around his scruff, turning to her and lifting his head up so she could scratch under his chin.

“Come and lie down,” she whispered to him, pressing a kiss to her son’s head and massaging the baby’s tummy softly, something that always helped get him to calm down enough to sleep.

He nodded, slinking in behind Felicity so she was between her and the wall, lying down and resting his head on her chest. She was lying flat on her back with a rolled up towel separating her and Joey to ensure she didn’t roll over on top of him as she slept. Felicity yanked the blankets and covers on top of them both, raking one of her hands through the wolf’s fur soothingly while her other one pressed into the towel by Joey’s side.

“He’s grown so much since December,” she said. “It’s terrifying to think that he was barely five pounds when he was born and he’s over doubled his weight now.”

Oliver snorted, nuzzling at her neck affectionately.

“You know, I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re his dad,” Felicity continued, her voice casual, but the sentence caused Oliver to freeze, shooting a wary glance over at her. “And at the start, I really wasn’t sure what to think of that because you’re NOT his dad, his dad was a murdering rapist mobster scumbag, but you’ve been so great with him and so kind and welcoming and incredible to me that I’ve decided that I’m okay with that. Because Joey deserves to have a dad and I’m happy that he thinks it’s you. Because you’re amazing. You love him, and he loves you, and as long as that continues, I think it would be great for him to consider and call you Dad.” She frowned. “I guess I’m asking you without asking and sort of telling you that even though you’re not his biological father and we’re not, you know, _together_ , you’re always gonna be one of his parents in his eyes. If that’s okay with you.”

Oliver was so delighted that his tail was wagging uncontrollably, and he licked frantically at Felicity’s neck to thank her. Being a guardian of Joey was an absolute privilege and he loved the baby. Being called dad by him in the future was all he could ever ask for.

“I guess that is okay with you,” Felicity chuckled, dropping a kiss onto his muzzle.

Joey made a sort of humming noise in his sleep and Oliver instinctively rumbled to pacify him. The baby quietened, smacking his lips. After a minute or so, the wolf realised that Felicity had slipped off to sleep too, her breathing evening out.

Oliver couldn’t help but watch her for a moment or so more, simply gazing down upon the peaceful and serene expression on her face. He wanted Felicity to feel as relaxed as she did when sleeping with him and her baby all the time; he wanted to her be happy, to enjoy life as much as she could. Everything should be as easy and simple as possible for Felicity and Joey so they could appreciate the little things that made them both smile and laugh for as long as possible, without worrying about anything.

As the final realisation hit, Oliver sucked in so much oxygen with his sharp inhalation of shock that a wave of dizziness swooped over him. How he didn’t realise it before, he didn’t know.

He and Felicity had been living together for a year in the shadows of the forest; he’d helped her during her pregnancy, comforting and providing for her. Meanwhile, she’d helped him cope with his mental issues due to his feelings of feral insecurity when it came to his wolfhood. They’d started raising her child ( _their child_ ) together.

And sometime during the year, he had fallen in love with Felicity Smoak.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t take him another year for him to confess that to her.

* * *

**February 21st 2014**

“And what’s this?”

“Boat!”

A brilliant grin spread across Oliver’s face. He was sitting with Joey just outside their cave while Felicity was off fetching supplies from Diggle, and decided that he could see how many words they’d managed to teach the baby now. “Yeah, it’s your toy boat, aren’t you a smart boy, Joey! And what’s this?”

“Apple!”

“An apple.”

“An apple,” the fourteen-month-old baby repeated back to Oliver, and then he took the apple from the wolf’s hand and tried to bite into it, crying out angrily when he couldn’t properly eat it. He threw the apple onto the ground. “No apple!”

Oliver rolled his eyes with a quiet chuckle, scooping up the apple. “Sorry, buddy, the apple’s hard, you can’t eat it by yourself quite yet.”

Joey looked at him with a stubborn expression. “Want apple.”

“We’ll cut up some apple and boil it to soften it so you can eat it later, Joey, okay? When Mommy gets back.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Oliver almost instantly realised his mistake when Joey straightened up and stared at him intensely after he finished speaking. “Mama?” Joey said seriously. “Mama coming?”

“Yeah, Mommy’s coming back soon, bud.”

“Want Mama.”

“Oh, come on, buddy, don’t do this to me now, please.”

Joey screwed his face up unhappily. “Want Mama NOW,” he shouted.

“Mommy will be back soon,” Oliver sighed, standing and picking the baby up, propping him on his hip as he started collecting and folding their clothes from where they were drying on nearby tree branches after being washed. “A minute, okay? A minute.”

“Minute,” Joey repeated, gnawing on Oliver’s shirt. The word was skewered because the fourteen-month-old couldn’t entirely pronounce his consonants yet. “Minute.”

“Yep. You’ll just have to wait with me until then, alright?”

“You,” the baby parroted back at him. He grinned, stabbing one of his small fingers into Oliver’s shoulder. “You. Da.”

The wolf smiled back at him, peppering Joey’s forehead with kisses and laughing as the baby giggled uncontrollably. “Yes, you stay here with Daddy.”

When Joey had first called him Da at the age of six months, after learning to call Felicity Mama a month before, Oliver had cried he was so gleeful about it. Now, it was a regular thing. Joey always called him Da.

“You stay here with me, bud.”

“Wolf da?” Joey asked, the hope in his voice making Oliver snicker.

“No wolf daddy today,” he replied. “Mommy likes to be here when wolf daddy comes out because she says we’re too adorable together, and she doesn’t want to miss a single moment.”

Lip jutting out stubborn, Joey pounded a closed fist against Oliver’s chest, insisting, “Want play with wolf da!”

“When Mommy comes back.”

“Mama come back?”

“We just went over this,” he laughed. “Mommy’s coming back in a minute.”

“Minute?”

“Yes, a minute.”

Joey looked suspicious, but nodded, clenching his hands in Oliver’s t-shirt. “‘Kay. Minute.”

It was actually closer to fourteen minutes, but Felicity did eventually return. She came bearing a trolley full of new clothes, more blankets, bottles of water and baby food. Joey immediately went ballistic as soon as he saw his mother, wiggling in Oliver’s arms and screaming when Felicity didn’t instantly come to greet and cuddle him. He continued wailing until Felicity pushed the trolley into the entrance of the cave and rushed to say hello to him, showering him with kisses as the wolf passed him over to her.

“Mama mama mama mama,” Joey babbled, giggling as she nose nuzzled with him. He clapped his hands onto her cheeks and squealed. “Mama come back want apple da wolf!”

“Whoa, slow down there, buddy!” Felicity laughed. “Let me try and translate that, huh? Mommy’s back.”

“Yes!”

“And you want an apple.”

“Yeees!”

“And you want Daddy to shift into his wolf form!”

“Yeeeeeeees!” Joey screeched.

“I’m so glad he hasn’t reached the ‘no’ stage yet,” Oliver told her honestly.

“Oh god, same,” Felicity agreed. Her smile widened, if possible becoming even softer. She leaned forwards him and murmured in a husky voice, “Hey,” before going up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his tenderly.

Oliver responded eagerly, pulling her so she was flush against him as he deepened the kiss. They finally had to break away, gasping, but they shared a loving, warm glance between them.

Oliver embraced her, inhaling her scent of roses, cinnamon and cherries with a fond sigh. “I missed you.”

“I was only gone forty minutes.”

“Still missed you.”

“Because our son was making trouble?”

“No. Just… missed you.”

“You’re becoming a sap, Oliver Queen,” she teased him.

“Pretty sure I became a sap the moment I found you passed out under that tree two years ago. Or if not then, when I kissed you for the first time on Joey’s six month birthday.”

The mention of Joey triggered them both to turn their attention to their child, but the baby was just gazing at them with an adoring look in his eyes, smiling as he observed the affection shared between his parents. It was Joey who helped Oliver and Felicity realise that they were utterly in love with each other and get together. On his six month birthday, he had refused to be held by one of them, insisting that he needed both of them to hold him, and Oliver had just given in that to that heated need to kiss Felicity deep inside of him. Before he’d even known what was going on, Felicity was kissing him back. They’d been together as a couple ever since. They were essentially married in every way except legally.

“How was the supply pick-up from Diggle?”

“Good,” Felicity told him. “Went smoothly.”  
“You know, we’re going to have to find some way to pay him back one day, because we must be costing him hundreds of dollars to help.”

“I agree. He says that being Joey’s godfather is enough, but maybe we should dip into our savings accounts to give a little back to him.”  
Oliver raised an eyebrow. “Right. Dip into our savings accounts - which still exist, but haven’t been touched in four years in your case, and five in mine.”

“Yeah, not such a good idea if we want to remain off the radar, now I think about it.”

“Off the radar,” Joey repeated.

Oliver and Felicity exchanged glances.

“The repeating phase is better than the ‘no’ phase,” the wolf said.

“No?” the baby echoed.

“No, no, no, no!” Felicity shook her head frantically, and then her eyes widened and she quickly corrected, “Yes! Yes.” She shot the wolf a half-hearted glare. “Now look what you’ve done!” Bouncing the baby on her hip so she could carry him more securely, Felicity flicked Oliver in the shoulder and sauntered off into the cave, using her free hand to push the trolley full of supplies inside.

Joey reached over his mother’s shoulder, making grabby hands as he demanded, “WOLF DA!”

Seeing as Felicity didn’t say anything in protest, Oliver shifted into his wolf form and trotted inside after his partner and child, using his nose and paws to turn on the electric lamps so the dark cave was lit. Lowering Joey to the ground onto his play mats, Felicity ran her hands through Oliver’s fur from the top of his head, between his ears, down to his tail. Oliver arched up into her touch with a soft sound, nuzzling at her jean-clad thigh.

“Go and play with our son, I’m going to sort through the stuff John gave us,” she told him. “No rough play, please.”

Oliver nipped at her hand with a soft growl, brushing his tail over her legs to reassure her that he was going to be gentle. He always attempted to be gentle with Joey, but sometimes the baby would tug a little too hard on his ears or tail, yank at his fur too firmly; he might end up with very minor scratches from Oliver batting him away. Felicity trusted Oliver with the baby implicitly, but since her concern for Joey as his mother was constant, she habitually got worried whenever the fourteen-month-old and Oliver in his wolf form played together.

Sitting up straight, Joey immediately scrambled to his feet and ran towards the wolf, his motions wobbly and rather uncoordinated. Walking up to the baby, Oliver licked him on the forehead in greeting, wincing as the baby threw himself onto Oliver’s head and grabbed at his ears. His grasp was so strong that the wolf was able to raise his head, lifting the baby up as well, and drop him back onto the play mats.

He rumbled warmly as his son began threading his small fingers through the wolf’s pelt, his favourite thing to do with Oliver since he enjoyed the feeling of the canine’s mixture of wiry and fluffy fur. That rumble tapered off into a small warning growl when Joey twisted his ear rather painfully. To his absolute astonishment, Joey bared his teeth and snarled back at him.

“Did he just snarl?!” Felicity questioned, wheeling around from her position kneeling and folding their new fleece sweatshirts. She knew Oliver’s unique growl, and this new sound was more human than canine. “Oh my god, please tell me that was _NOT_ Joseph Ethan Smoak-Queen snarling!”

Oliver shook his head, aghast. Joey ordered him shortly, “No moving, wanna pet,”, rubbing his hands over the wolf’s exposed belly and resting his head there with a happy sigh.

“Our son is becoming half-feral,” Felicity muttered, turning back to her sorting.

Shooting her a pointed look, the wolf huffed.

“Yeah, I guess I’ve become half-feral at this point too,” she sighed.

Heaving himself to his paws and nudging Joey back, licking him in an apology that he had to leave, Oliver slipped over to his partner and curled himself as much as he could around her body, rubbing his head against her arm affectionately.

 _I love you_ , he was trying to say without words. _Half-feral or not._

“I love you too,” she murmured, hugging him around his neck and kissing his forehead.

Clapping his hands, Joey called out to them both loudly, “Love you Mama Da!” to remind them that he was there.

* * *

**February 21st 2015**

Joey was clutching possessively to his father’s fur, riding on the wolf’s back with his head buried in Oliver’s scruff. They were walking through the forest towards Diggle’s cabin, Felicity ahead of them and carrying a shoulder bag containing some of their son’s toys, favourite blanket, pyjamas and clothes for the next day.

Diggle and his wife, Lyla, were going to look after their godson for the night and next day, giving Oliver and Felicity their first night and day alone together since Joey’s birth. Joey had been babysat by John and Lyla before, but only for a couple of hours during the day. It was clear to see that the two year old was anxious about it, even refusing to walk so he could ride on his father’s back and be closer to him.

“I want to say with you and Mama,” he murmured into Oliver’s ear, tightening his arms around the wolf’s neck. “Can’t I stay with you and Mama?”

Oliver rumbled back at him apologetically. He and Felicity had… plans. That weren’t appropriate for a two year old to be hanging around while doing.

They’d been planning this day for three months. A month before they’d started planning, Diggle had very subtly - or _not_ so subtly - snuck a box of condoms into their monthly supplies. Felicity had been the one to discover it, and consequently went silent for an entire week, refusing to speak to Oliver, or even let him touch or within five feet of her. He’d only worked out what was going on when he’d found the box himself.

Perhaps it was the reminder of sex that triggered Felicity into shutdown, the memories of what had happened to her - what those horrific Bratva henchman had done to her - overwhelming her brain. Because she hadn’t just been distant from Oliver; she’d avoided Joey as well. Oliver had to wonder whether or not Felicity was reminded of the fact that she had been tortured and repeatedly raped by the sight of Joey every day. He knew she didn’t think about it, told herself that Oliver was Joey’s father, but maybe the sight of the condoms brought all of those seeds of doubt and fear and insecurity back.

She’d recovered. It had taken a couple of weeks, but she eventually opened back up to Oliver. It had taken a very difficult conversation between Felicity and Oliver for them to get back onto the right terms, for Oliver to truly understand _what_ was going on with her: whenever she thought about sex, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the horrors she had gone through at the hands of the Russian mob. She wasn’t ready to have sex with him yet, as much as she wanted to. And Oliver, he’d been okay with that. He always would have been okay with that. He wasn’t going to force her into it. He completely respected her boundaries.

But Felicity had told him that she wanted to have sex with him. Romantically and emotionally, they were utterly connected. She wanted to feel connected to him a more physical and sexual manner as well. She’d informed him that mentally, she was going to prepare herself, become more accustomed to the idea of it, and despite Oliver insisting that she didn’t have to do that for him, she told him that she wanted to, for herself. So exactly three months ago, they had marked this date, the three year anniversary of the day they first met.

Joey screaming Diggle’s name excitedly startled Oliver back into the present. They were approaching the cabin at the edge of the woods, the trees thinning and allowing more light to pass through the canopy so less shadows were formed. Diggle was waiting on his porch. The wolf lowered himself on his paws so his belly brushed the ground so Joey could slip off his back and sprint forwards towards his godfather.

Diggle broke out into a massive grin, sweeping Joey off the ground and above his head. The little boy giggled, waving his arms in the air. 

“There he is! My favourite godson! Wow, look at you! You’ve grown so big and strong!”

“Like Da!” Joey replied, and warmth sparked in the wolf’s heart.

“Just like your daddy, that’s right,” Diggle agreed, twisting the boy around and sitting him atop his broad shoulders. Joey appeared awed at being up so high. “Hey, Oliver.” The wolf dipped his head in greeting. “Hey, Felicity, how are you doing?”

“Great,” she answered, but there was an anxious lilt to her voice, and her smile looked a little forced and wobbly. She was nervous about the night she and Oliver were going to spend together, and the wolf couldn’t blame her. She had perfectly legitimate reasons to be freaking out mentally. “Thank you so much for taking Joey.”

“Nah, it’s no problem, I love this little guy,” Diggle said, tugging at Joey’s little hiking boots and chuckling when the toddler rested his chin on his head. “Go have fun, okay? Enjoy the time to yourselves. Lyla and I can give him dinner tomorrow, as well, and we’ll bring him back around eight-ish in the evening.”

Oliver made a woofing sound of thanks, leading Felicity away and back into the darkness of the forest. She rested her hand on his scruff and dug her fingers into his fur. They remained silent as they headed back to their cave.

It was only six in the evening and barely dark yet, so Oliver left his partner at their shelter and went hunting, triumphantly returning with a rabbit. Felicity still didn’t talk as she helped him skin, gut and prepare the meat for cooking. It was as Oliver sat down in human form next to her on a mat outside the cave as she carefully turned the kebabed rabbit meat over their fire that she finally spoke.

“I’m sorry I’m so quiet,” she whispered, leaning into his side. “I’m trying not to withdraw but I can’t help it.”

“We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” he reassured her.

She nodded, swallowing. She took his hand and entwined their fingers, hiding her face in his shoulder. Her voice was muffled as she asked, stuttering, “We’ll stop if I ask to stop?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. Okay, okay, okay.”

“Felicity, honestly, if you don’t want -”

“No, I do,” she interrupted quickly. “I _do_. That’s - as strange as that sounds, that’s the problem.”

He glanced over at her worriedly. “Felicity…”

“The meat is ready,” she said, changing the subject.

They ate together, huddling next to each other and sharing a flask of herbal tea. It was starting to get dark by the time they finished the rabbit off, so they stamped out the fire and retreated into the cave, sealing up the entrance using the plastic sheeting Diggle had given them and turning on the lanterns and heaters.

Oliver was knelt on the floor mats picking out a pair of fluffy socks for himself when he heard Felicity question shakily, “Is there any point in getting changed into pyjamas if we’re just going to take our clothes off anyway?”

He turned and saw she was trying to undo the buttons of her jacket with trembling hands. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Immediately, Oliver stood and slowly strode over to her, asking for permission before pulling her in for a hug. She was full on shaking in his arms, her crying silent but tears rolling down her face.

Wiping away the tears with his calloused thumbs, he whispered, “It’s okay. It’s okay. We won’t do anything. It’s alright, sweetheart, we can just lie in bed together. We don’t have to do anything. We can just go to sleep like it’s a normal night, except we won’t have to get up at 5am because Joey needs to go and pee. It’s okay, Felicity, I swear.”

“No it’s not,” she sobbed. “It’s not okay, it’s never going to be okay.”

“Yes, it is. Felicity, I promise you, it is completely and utterly okay if you don’t want to do anything.”

“But I _do_ want to but I _can’t_.”

“There is nothing wrong with that.”

“Yes there is, I can’t control my own emotions and I’m - I’m _broken_ , Oliver. I’ve been broken for five years now and I’ve been trying to cover up the cracks but I _can’t_ anymore, I can’t pretend that everything is okay.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, but I need to because I have you and I have Joey and I have a responsibility to look after him as his mother.”

“It’s totally okay to need to take a step back, Felicity. You need to take a break and breathe sometimes, that’s perfectly normal and okay.”

“I can’t take a break, I have a two year old son who relies on me. And sure, he relies on you too but I’m his mom, and I can’t just leave him so I can take a breather, I _need_ to be with him. But I’m - I’m fracturing at the seams. Those two years are _haunting_ me. I can’t even _say_ it, Oliver. I can’t even say what happened to me, I feel sick and I want to die just thinking about it, how I can be a mother to a two year old if I can’t deal with this?”

“You can deal with this,” Oliver told her firmly, cupping her face in his hands. “You _can_. You are the strongest person I have ever met.”

“I’m not.”

“You most definitely are.”

“I… I can’t say it.”

“You don’t need to say it, whatever it is.”

“But I want to.”

He tightened his arms around her. “Then do it. Inhale, exhale, center yourself, clear your mind and then just blurt it out.”

She stiffened against him, but he felt her deep inhalation and then exhalation against his chest. A beat later, she murmured, “I can’t have sex with you because I was raped multiple times, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have sex again.” And as she finished her sentence, she burst into tears again, throwing her arms around his neck and clutching at him desperately.

Oliver breathed out, guiding her to their cot and helping her sit down. He swept her into his lap and embraced her again, letting her cry against his neck and comforting her until she was too tired to cry anymore. He was so immensely proud of her for taking that step, of voicing aloud her feelings to him and accepting them herself.

“I’m sorry,” Felicity said, her voice barely audible.

“You never have to be sorry with me,” he said fiercely, trying to keep his tone soft. “And I am so, so proud of you right now.”

“Please don’t leave me.”

“I wouldn’t ever leave you.”

“But I can’t have sex with you.”

“I don’t care about sex with you, Felicity. Well - obviously I _do_ , but if you don’t want to have sex, then I will never, not _ever_ force you to have sex with me. That is something that I can swear my life on. Our relationship is absolutely incredible already, I do not need sex from you. I would never leave you for not wanting to have sex with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m certain. I’m here to stay. As long as I live, I am remaining at your side.”

She shuddered, but finally nodded, believing his words.

“What do you want to do?” Oliver asked her quietly, stroking a hand over her hair. “We can do whatever you want. If you want to go and pick up Joey, we can go and get him. If you want to go to sleep, we can go to sleep. We can and will do whatever you want, honey.”

“Can you just… hold me? Can we lie in bed and cuddle? I - I want to be close to you.”

They settled down and lied next to each other, sheets tangled around their entwined bodies. Felicity wrapped her legs around the wolf’s waist, resting her ear over his heart; her nimble fingers traced the scars in his torso under his shirt. Sighing as he felt her breathing start to deepen out, Oliver encased her with his arms and shifted to get more comfortable, dragging the blankets up to cover them both.

“I love you so much,” Felicity mumbled, half-asleep.

“I love you too.”

“You’re the best partner I could ever wish for. And the best father to Joey. Neither of us would be alive right now without you.”

He worried his lip with his front teeth. He didn’t like to think about what would have happened to Felicity if he hadn’t found her three years ago. But her saying that he was the best partner, and dad to her child, caused palpitations in his heart from crushing emotion. “Thank you,” he murmured, voice choked.

“Although you’re gonna have to discipline our son to stop growling whenever he doesn’t get his way,” she slurred. “Only a matter of time before he starts growing a tail and claws.”

“You sure you haven’t yet, too?” he teased her, nuzzling down into her hair.

“Nahhh… give it three more years.”

“You prepared to live here for three more years with me, as nothing more than a shadow?”

“Yeah. Prepared to live the rest of my life with you, Oliver.”

His heart full, he responded, “Same.”

* * *

**February 21st 2016**

They were working in Diggle’s cabin when the visitors came. After four years of being close friends, the forest ranger had finally come up with a way for Oliver and Felicity to repay him for all the help he’d given them over the years, getting them supplies and babysitting their son.

He wanted Oliver to help him plan the architecture of a new cabin that he was planning to build - in the middle of the woods, for Oliver, Felicity and Joey to live in. They’d protested massively at first, not wanting to give Diggle any unnecessary work, but he reminded them gently that they were currently raising their three year old child in a damp, dark cave, and were already cramped for space. So Oliver and Diggle met up most days to draw up plans for the cabin, while Felicity busied herself by sorting through the wiring of Diggle’s computer set-up. When he had complained about his monitor shutting off unexpectedly and randomly, Felicity had been ecstatic to get her hands on some tech. She had began pulling leads and examining the computer with such glee that Oliver couldn’t help but laugh.

It was as Oliver was sitting at the table with Diggle, pencils down as they designed their new home and Felicity was seated under the desk, organising all the extension leads and wiring, that heavy knocks sounded from the front door.

Oliver immediately froze, eyes flashing over to his partner. He could see that Felicity was searching frantically for Joey, who was playing with his toy boats and cars in the corner of the room. Within seconds, Felicity had crossed the space and scooped him up, wheeling back around to join Oliver behind the table, pressing her side into his.

“Stay there,” Diggle ordered them quietly, walking towards the door. “I’m not expecting visitors today.”

They remained utterly motionless where they were stood. Oliver’s muscles were tensed, ready to sweep Felicity and Joey into his arms and leg it if he had to. The only human being other than Diggle that he and his family had come into contact with over the years was Lyla, Diggle’s wife, and she wasn’t due to arrive back from work until around six pm-ish, so it couldn’t be her. The glance Felicity shot the wolf was nothing less than panicked, and he tried to soothe her by slipping his hand into hers, tanging their fingers together and caressing her palm with his thumb.

Diggle opened the front door. Whoever it was there introduced themselves, and usually Oliver would be able to hear them due to his enhanced wolf hearing, but his blood was pounding in his ears.

“And what brings you out here, Detective?” Diggle answered their visitor loudly.

Felicity whimpered beside him. A police detective. Oliver felt sick. What they were doing, living in the forest with their toddler, wasn’t exactly legal. If the police got wind of what they were doing, they would contact protective child services, who would take Joey away from them. And that could _not_ happen. Oliver wouldn’t let that happen.

“Can I step inside?” the detective questioned.

Diggle cast a worried gaze back towards his friends. Oliver gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw. If Diggle said no and didn’t let the detective in, that would appear suspicious. But if he did let him in, the detective would most likely want to ask the wolf and Felicity questions - ones they wouldn’t be able to answer without blatantly lying. To his surprise, Felicity nodded beside him, swallowing nervously.

“Sure,” Diggle replied, swinging the door open, “You’re not my only visitor today, though. I have my friends and their toddler around. I can ask them to leave though so we can talk in private.”

“If they live locally, I have some questions for them as well.”

Diggle nodded helplessly. “Alright.”

The police detective stepped inside, coming into view. Oliver went completely still. He recognised the man. It was Detective Lance, although when Oliver knew him, he’d only been an officer - an officer who had worked on the case of his family’s slaughter. He had been one of the officers who had always been suspicious about Oliver’s involvement in the murders. As Lance looked around, he appeared shocked at seeing the wolf standing there, hugging a very pale Felicity to his side and bracing a hand on a little boy, who was hiding his face in Oliver’s shoulder.

“Queen?” Lance asked, puzzled.

“Hello, Officer Lance,” Oliver responded, managing to keep his voice calm and collected despite the alarm bells ringing in his mind. “Although I guess that’s Detective now, huh.”

Lance stared at him in disbelief. “What are you doing here? Last time I saw you was, god, _years_ ago now. You just up and vanished.”

“Fancied a new start.”

“You friends with Mr Diggle, here?”

“Yes.”

“You live near here?”

“Yes,” he replied shortly, his abrupt tone telling the detective that he wasn’t going to offer much more information than that.

Lance nodded, processing this information. “And who are -” he cut himself off, waving his hand vaguely towards the two people who Oliver loved most in the world. The detective narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw that Felicity was trembling and Joey was starting to cry quietly into his father’s neck due to sensing his mother’s distress. He looked… puzzled. Lance squinted at Felicity, a strange flicker in his eyes.

“My wife, Felicity, and our son, Joseph,” the wolf introduced reluctantly. “Sorry, they’re… not very comfortable around strangers.” He didn’t want to give Lance enough information that he could start investigating into their family. “What questions do you have for Mr Diggle and I, Detective?”

Lance blinked at the blunt question, but snapped back into work mode, pulling out a notebook and pen from in his jacket. “Uhh, yeah. We’ve been investigating some suspicious activity around the forest area, the other side to this, actually.” Good, that was nowhere near their cave. “Have you noticed anything lately?”

Diggle shrugged. “Not really. I do my daily patrol on the quad bike around the perimeter and haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Nothing on the CCTV either.”

“And you?” Lance turned to Oliver.

“Nothing,” he shook his head.

“You mind if you can take me around that perimeter of yours?” Lance asked Diggle.

The forest ranger crossed his arms over his chest, gaze serious. “What exactly are you looking for?”

Lance sighed in exasperation. Glancing between Diggle and Oliver, however, he seemed to realise that they weren’t going to be any more cooperative until he at least gave them a little information. “We’ve had intel that a mob has been using this local area to hide a human trafficking operation.”

Felicity’s hold on Oliver’s hand tightened until it almost burned, it hurt so much. Her shaking was becoming much more pronounced and visible, and the wolf was concerned she was going to break down soon if he didn’t get her out of this environment. Joey turned to his mother, murmuring a quiet reassurance to her that it was okay and burying his head in her shoulder instead of his father’s.

“Which mob?” the wolf questioned tightly.

Because if it was the mob that took Felicity, he was going to find them and tear every single man there connected to them apart.

“That information isn’t available to the -”

“Detective Lance,” Oliver cut in, his eyes blazing fiercely. His voice was firm and unyielding as he repeated, “Which mob?”

Lance looked unhappy about it, but admitted, “The Bratva.”

Felicity tore out of Oliver’s arms and ran out of the cabin as if she had sharks snapping at her heels. She was trembling so much that she tripped over the threshold and nearly dropped Joey, who was now wailing at full volume in her arms, but she was gone, disappearing into the woods before Oliver could even get his head around what Lance had just told him to think to try and stop her.

Shouting her name, Oliver shoved past the detective and raced after her, his strides long and powerful as he sprinted. The wolf was rearing its head inside of him, gifting him with an alertness and speed that no human could possess which aided him in following Felicity’s trail.

He heard Lance say to Diggle incredulously, “Wait, Felicity as in Felicity _SMOAK_?” before he was completely out of hearing range of the cabin, and at that point, Oliver didn’t care that their identities had been given away.

The Bratva. The mob that had kidnapped Felicity, forced to her work for them - _beaten_ her and raped her and threw her out into the woods to die mercilessly. And they were running a human trafficking operation, probably the same one that Felicity had been a victim off, near their _home_. Within his territory. He never would have thought Felicity’s past would come back to haunt them like this, but then again, he never expected Felicity to turn up in his life and completely turn things around for the better.

Oliver was sure of one thing though. Tonight, he was going hunting. But not for deer, or rabbit or squirrels. Tonight, he was going to get a taste for human blood.

He slowed down to a jog as he approached their cave. A wave of immense sadness swept over him at the sight that greeted him. Felicity was sitting outside the cave with her knees to her chest, head bowed on top of them. Joey was curled up beside her, snaking his fingertips up and down his mother’s arm as part of a grounding technique that Oliver had taught him to do if Felicity ever got stuck in her own head.

Joey jumped to his feet and ran over to his father. His bottom lip wobbled and he’d definitely been crying. “Mama’s been crying,” he whispered, when Oliver picked him up and cuddled the three year old to his chest. “She’s in her sad bad head mood.”

“Yeah, I know, buddy,” Oliver replied quietly. “You helped Mommy calm down a bit?”

“Did the finger snake thing,” Joey nodded, sticking a couple of his fingers into his mouth. He pouted when Oliver pulled them out and smoothed down his mop of dirty blonde hair. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, knowing he couldn’t lie to his son. “How about you have a nap and I’ll try and cheer up Mommy so we can have snuggles later, okay?”

The three-year-old nodded, tapping the wolf’s shoulder to ask to be let down. Joey had already taught himself to put himself down for a nap, and pressed a messy kiss to his dad’s cheek before tottering off inside the cave. Oliver watched him go and listened, waiting until he heard the blankets rustling as Joey lied down until he fully turned his attention onto his partner.

Felicity seemed to be the midst of a silent panic attack. Whenever she did slip into an anxious state, she was far more likely to go quiet, still and dissociate than hyperventilate. She didn’t even flinch as the wolf slid down the cave wall and shuffled so he was seated beside her. He made sure that he was close enough to offer some comfort but not close enough that she would feel caged.

After a couple of minutes, Felicity lifted her head from her knees, exposing her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. Her expression was neutral, but Oliver could sense a lot of emotions beneath that facade, that were eating her up inside.

“Oliver…”

“Yeah?”

“What if they come looking for us?” she whispered. “What if they kidnap me again? Oliver, what - what if they kill Joey?”

“They are never going to get anywhere you or Joey, _ever_ ,” he swore. 

“You can’t know that.”

“I do know that, because tonight I am tracking them down and killing them all for what they did to you.”

Felicity turned to him, loosening her arms around her knees. “You’d do that for me?”

“And more.”

She nodded, looking away and back down at her knees.

“Is that okay with you?” he asked.

Felicity’s voice was dark and fierce as she replied, “Make them suffer.”

* * *

**February 21st 2017**

“He’s waiting inside my cabin,” Diggle said as soon as Oliver got within viewing distance, knowing that the wolf would be able to hear him. “I forced him to give me his gun. He just wants to talk. Where’s your wife and kid?”

Oliver nodded, striding towards him. He was as silent as a ghost as he slunk through the forest, barely a twig snapping beneath his shoes. “Felicity wanted to stay behind with Joey at the cabin. I can handle this by myself. Lance isn’t dangerous to me unless he has a gun.”

He reached Diggle and they began walking side by side along the deer path that lead to the forest ranger’s home. Oliver had to admit that was concerned about the conversation he was going to have with Lance.

The detective, being of reasonable intelligence, had very quickly figured out that Oliver was behind the slaughter of all the Bratva men. In March last year, Oliver had tracked down their secret base of operations in an old nuclear bunker on the outskirts of the forest in his wolf form, and ripped all of them to shreds. It felt amazing to be able to get revenge for Felicity against the monsters who had tormented her for two years, and felt even more incredible when he also saved over three dozen victim’s lives.

He had shifted back into human form to call it in to the police, disguising his voice, but switched back into wolf form to watch from a fair distance away as SWAT raided the bunker. Lance, as an investigating detective on the case, had been standing outside directing everybody and coordinating ambulances and the like. He had spotted the wolf lurking nearby.

Oliver would never forget that look of dawning realisation on the detective’s face as he followed the sight of footsteps on the ground transforming into pawprints that gave away the wolf’s position. But to Oliver’s shock, instead of drawing his gun, Lance had simply dipped his head in respect.

The detective had been trying to get in touch with Oliver for nearly a year after that. He couldn’t pin down Oliver, Felicity and Joey’s home in the woods, so had essentially harassed Diggle, insisting that the forest ranger ask on his behalf for a meeting with the wolf. Oliver had finally agreed to the detective’s wish, but only due to Felicity’s urging. She had pointed out that having a police detective in the know and on their side might be excellent in they ever needed his help in the future.

Lance was calmly seated on Diggle’s couch when Oliver and the ranger entered the cabin. He didn’t move, just gazing at the wolf scrutinisingly for a moment. Oliver exhaled to centre himself as he sat down opposite the detective on a chair. Diggle informed him quietly he would be waiting outside, shutting the door.

“Mr Queen,” Lance acknowledged.

“Detective Lance,” Oliver nodded.

“How are the wife and kid doing?”

Oliver shook his head. “That’s not what you want to talk about.”

The detective sighed, raking a hand through his thinning hair. “Your… wife. Felicity. She’s Felicity Smoak?”

“Yes.”

“She’s the woman who was kidnapped by the Bratva after working with the NSA to target them. How did you two meet?”

Leaning back into his chair, Oliver told him, “Five years ago today, I found her just a couple miles from here in the forest, unconscious. She angered some of the men within the mob by tipping off the NSA and they assaulted her. Left her out here to die. We’ve been together ever since.”

“And… the kid.”

The wolf exhaled. Felicity had given him her permission to talk about this, but it didn’t make it any easier. “Joey… isn’t my son biologically. The men in the Bratva, they raped Felicity. He was one of the consequences of that. She guesses that her getting pregnant was a catalyst for them dumping her in the woods. But we still adore Joey, no matter who and what he resulted from. He’s a healthy four year old boy and he means the world to us.”

Lance set him with a serious look, crossing his arms. “You’re not what you seem.”

“No. I never have been. But I prefer to be underestimated.”

“You killed those mobsters last year.”

“You haven’t got any kind of evidence that you can prove that was me,” Oliver countered.

“I have eyes.”

“And what? The rest of your police precinct is going to believe what you claim to have seen? For some reason, I don’t think ‘Oliver Queen is a werewolf and I saw a wolf at the scene of the crime so it must have been him because he was getting revenge for his wife’ would go down well.”

Lance shook his head, glancing away in frustration. Oliver watched him warily as the man seemed to have an internal battle inside his head. “I didn’t come here to fight you, Mr Queen. Or even arrest you. I just want answers.”

“Then ask your questions.”

Drumming his fingers against his knee, the detective stared at him and questioned, “How you gonna educate the kid?”

“That’s what you want to know?”

“I asked the question, didn’t I?”

It wasn’t what Oliver had expected at all, but if that was genuinely what Lance wanted to know, he would tell him. “We’re homeschooling him. We’re currently teaching him how to read and about his numbers.”

“You? A teacher?” Lance said in disbelief.

“Felicity handles most of it,” he admitted. “I help out when I can.”

“How are you gonna socialise him? He can’t play with other kids his age living in the forest. He’s not gonna interact with any other kids _at all_.”

“Diggle’s wife Lyla is pregnant. We’re hoping that Joey and their baby with be friends.”

“That’s not gonna be enough.”

“We’re not moving back into civilisation if that’s what you’re asking,” Oliver said heatedly. 

“Felicity, Joey and I are happy and comfortable living here in the woods and we’re not going to uproot our entire lives to move. All of us have been through too much - we don’t need that sort of stress.”

Lance raised his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to shit on your lives or anything. I’m just concerned for the kid.”

“Joey is as happy as a four year old can be,” Oliver replied. “I mean, occasionally he gets angry at Felicity and I for making him drink water instead of juice, but overall, I’d say he’s a pretty joyful child.”

“But he’s not going to live a full life out here in the woods, Mr Queen.”

Slamming his hands down on the arms of his chair and standing, looming over the detective, Oliver growled with a hint of fury in his voice, “Are you suggesting I don’t know how to raise my own child, Detective Lance?”

“No,” he responded immediately. Oliver couldn’t help but feel pleased at the flash of fear he saw in Lance’s eyes as the man shrunk back in the face of the wolf’s anger. “No, of course not.”

Diggle popped his head in around the front door worriedly. He’d obviously heard Oliver’s snarl, and was checking that the wolf wasn’t mauling Lance.

“Everything okay in here?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Fine,” the wolf gritted out, sitting down again.

“You’re not gonna wolf out and eat the detective if I leave you two alone again?”

“As long as he doesn’t imply with his questions that I’m a bad parent again, no.”

“Alright…” Diggle vanished and closed the door again.

“I didn’t mean to imply -”

“You doubt that Felicity and I can effectively raise a four-year-old boy in the middle of the woods,” Oliver cut in. “You would be stupid if you didn’t. But we try to give him the fullest, happiest life he could possibly live while out here with us, Detective. Joey is the one thing that keeps both of us going in these dark times. We love him, and it would destroy us if he ever felt less than completely and utterly loved by his parents. And I think it would kill him if he had to lose us. So I have to ask, are you planning to arrest Felicity and or I anytime soon, and are you planning to report us to child protective services so they can take our child away?”

Lance examined Oliver’s expression for a moment, lifting his chin slightly as he narrowed his eyes. After a moment, he finally answered, “I have no plans to arrest either of you or try and get your son taken away from you. I have the feeling that if I attempted to, you three would disappear off the face of the planet and we would never see you again. I’d prefer for you to stick around so I can keep an eye on you, Felicity and that boy of yours.”

“Why?”

“Felicity probably didn’t tell you this, but her mom and I were dating when Donna died. Sure, Donna and I might have only dated for two months or so, but I still view Felicity like a daughter. If I’d had my way and Donna had survived another two weeks, she would be my stepdaughter right now. You would be my son-in-law and Joseph would be my grandson.”

Oliver didn’t know what to say.

It must have shown on his face, because Lance shook his head. “You don’t have to say anything. Felicity had changed so much a year ago that I didn’t recognise her at first, but after her reaction to hearing about the Bratva - I knew it was her. I think she recognised me too. I had the feeling she wouldn’t say anything about me to you. Just don’t do anything stupid, look after Felicity and Joseph and avoid killing any more mobsters, alright?”

Relieved, Oliver nodded.

“Can I come and visit every so often?” the detective asked hopefully. “I know it seems stupid, but… I wanna meet your son properly, and spend some time with Felicity. I’ve got her laptop from her old apartment at home and figure she’d appreciate that. Oh, and I’ve got some history and geography knowledge so I can even help you homeschool Joey when he’s old enough.”

“I think Felicity would really like that,” the wolf confessed.

“And you?”

Oliver smiled. “I’m okay with it.”

“So if I see a wolf in the forest when I’m out here visiting -”

“Don’t shoot it,” Oliver finished.

“Because it’s most likely you. Right. Gotta get my head around that. Werewolf.”

“You’ll get used to it!” Diggle shouted from outside. “Took me a while, but I finally did!”

“Have you been listening in the whole time?” Oliver yelled back.

“Had to make sure you weren’t killing him!”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Sorry about him,” he apologised to Lance. “If you don’t mind, I have to get back to my family. I need to hunt before it gets dark and I promised I would take Joey to see the new fox cubs that were born near our old shelter before his bedtime.” He raised his voice, shouting, “Yes, Dig, I will tag them for you, before you ask!”

“Thank you!” the ranger bellowed back.  
Lance stood as Oliver did, offering the wolf his hand to shake. His grip was tight but not painfully so, and the detective tilted his head in the same gesture of respect he had before, a year ago outside the Bratva’s raided bunker. He escorted Oliver to the door.

“Goodbye,” the detective said, shaking his hand one last time.

“See you soon,” Oliver responded.

“Hopefully.”

And the wolf walked back out into the forest, melting into the shadows as he headed back to his family.

* * *

**February 21st 2018**

“It’s so weird to think we have a five year old son,” Felicity murmured into Oliver’s ear, curled up by his side in their queen sized bed with her arms wrapped around his torso. Joey was sleeping in his own bed in his own bedroom, but had resisted going to sleep until ten pm, and since Oliver and Felicity had been working with Diggle all day, they were too exhausted to stay awake much longer.

“Sometimes I think it’s weird that we have a child at all,” Oliver mumbled, dropping his head so he could rub his cheek against hers affectionately, peppering kisses over her face.

“Soon to be two children,” she reminded him, tanging their fingers together so she could guide his hand down to her bloated stomach. 

The wolf sighed contently as he held his hand there and felt the baby kick gently against his hand. At five months pregnant, Felicity already had a substantial bump, and he loved feeling it, knowing their child was barely centimeters away from his touch.

Felicity frowned. “I hope Joey’s little sister is a lot less fussy than he was as an infant.”

“I thought he was perfect.”

“Yeah, he was, up until he was around four months old and wouldn’t stop waking up and screaming at the top of his lungs at three in the morning.”

Oliver winced at the memory. “Yeah, that was stressful.”

“Mmhmm.”

It was still surreal to the wolf to know that Felicity was pregnant with his child. She had very suddenly jumped him one night while Lance was babysitting Joey for them, insisting that she _needed_ to have sex with him, couldn’t deny herself him anymore, and she was going to push through every single anxiety and panic attack because she just _wanted_ him so much. They’d had to stop a couple of times because of Felicity’s hyperventilating, but after she realised that Oliver would respect her boundaries no matter what, would always stop if she asked him to, they made hot, passionate love that night. And the night after that. And the night after that. (They definitely owed Lance, Diggle and Lyla bottles of wine. Maybe several bottles of wine.)

They’d used condoms, but of course, they weren’t always one hundred percent effective, which they’d been reminded of when Felicity had taken a pregnancy test after throwing up every day for a week, started hating the taste of rabbit and desperately craving green tea, for some reason. That reason being pregnancy. The test came back positive. Being the thorough person she was, Felicity took another four tests afterwards to confirm. Which all came back positive too.

Oliver had been extremely worried at first, worried Felicity wouldn’t take the accidental pregnancy well, but she had been overjoyed. They’d celebrated that night with chocolate and… well, more sex. (Yeah, they definitely owed Lance, Diggle and Lyla at least a case of wine each.)

Joey had freaked out at first when finding out he was going to have a baby sibling, but then decided that he was going to be the best big brother ever. He talked to Felicity’s bump every single day, telling the baby about himself and their parents and their lives. It was the most adorable thing that Oliver had ever seen. He loved his family so much, and soon there would be another member to it.

“I always thought we would get a dog before having a baby,” Felicity mused aloud, scratching her nails lightly down his chest and causing Oliver to shiver.

“Well, we technically do already have a dog,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I thought I was your fluffy, cuddly puppy.”

“Not a puppy anymore,” she sighed. “More like a silver fox.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve definitely got some graying going on here.” She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling when he purred and leaned up into her hand. “I do too, so I can’t really talk. My graying is from stress though.”

“Whatever do you have to be stressed about?”

“Maybe you trying to teach our son how to use a bow and arrow and accidentally shooting one of our windows out.”

“He was just inches from the target on the wall,” Oliver sighed.

Felicity slapped his chest, frowning. “You couldn’t have picked another wall?”

“... It was five in the morning, okay? I wasn’t thinking properly at the time.”

“You suck,” she murmured, kissing his chin.

“I know,” he replied, cuddling her to his chest.

“But I still love you.”

“I know.”

Their bedroom door squeaked open, drawing their attention. The wolf went on the alert instantly, tensing around Felicity and shifting so he was half poised over her body protectively. A pair of curious, yet guilty blue eyes peered out of the darkness at them. Both Oliver and Felicity heaved groans and exchanged pained glances. Of course their son wasn’t asleep. They should have known. 

“Come in, Joey,” Oliver said tiredly.

“Sorry,” the five year old said, looking sheepish. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Come and snuggle with Mommy, sweetheart,” Felicity offered, turning in Oliver’s arms. Joey clambered up onto the bed and wiggled into his mother’s outstretched arms, humming happily. “You have nightmares?”

“No, couldn’t sleep.” Joey placed his palms over Felicity’s swollen belly. “Keep thinking about baby.”

“You excited about your little sister?”

“Yeah. Do we have a name for her yet?”

“Not yet, no,” Felicity said. “Daddy and I haven’t talked about it yet.”

“Can I name her?”

Oliver glanced up at his partner, who shrugged. It wouldn’t hurt for their son to give them some of his ideas, right? “What suggestions do you have?”

“I like the name Rainbow,” Joey announced.

He tried not to snicker. “Rainbow?”

“Yup.”

“Why Rainbow?”

“‘Cus she’s gonna be a rainbow and make us all happy.”

His heart throbbed. “That’s so sweet of you, buddy, but I don’t think we’ll be calling her Rainbow. Maybe we can call her that as a nickname.”

Bending down, Joey told the bump quietly, “Don’t worry baby, I’ll call you Rainbow. Mama and Daddy can have their stupid normal name and you can have your super cool one.” He looked up at his parents, wide-eyed. “Does she know I’m here?”

“Yeah, she can hear you talking,” Oliver nodded, reaching over so he could rest a hand on the bump next to Joey’s.

“No, but I mean, can she - can she - does she know what I look like?”

“Nope, it’s pitch black in there.”

Oliver swore he’d never seen the five year old look so alarmed. “Do you think she’s afraid of the dark?”

“She hasn’t seen the light yet, and the dark is all she’s known, so I don’t think she’ll be afraid, honey,” Felicity soothed him.

“Oh. Good. I don’t want her to be scared. “Joey scrunched up his nose. “But if it’s dark and she can’t see me, how does she know I’m her big brother?”

“She can recognise your voice.”

“Can she re-cog-nise your voice?” he asked curiously, slowing down to pronounce the longer word correctly.

“I should hope so,” Oliver laughed. “We have been talking to her every day.”

Joey massaged his small hands over the bump, gasping when he felt the kicking. Felicity leaned back into the wolf’s arms with a sigh of contentment, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion as they observed their son gazing at her swollen stomach intently.

“Do you think she’s smiling in there?” he questioned.

Felicity smoothed a hand over his hair, replying, “If she’s happy, then maybe.”

“I think she’s happy,” Joey decided.

“Why’d you think that, bud?”

“‘Cus she’s here with you, me and Daddy!” he said, rolling his eyes as if the answer was obvious.

Felicity muffled her giggles in their son’s hair. “Okay, Joey, it’s getting late, you can sleep here with Mommy and Daddy -”

“- and the baby,” Joey interrupted.

“- but we actually have to actually sleep,” Felicity completed.

Joey pouted, but nodded. He climbed over his mother to peck his lips against Oliver’s, saying, “Goodnight, Daddy,” before moving back into Felicity’s arms, kissing her and saying, “Goodnight, Mama.” And lastly, which caused tears to well in the wolf’s eyes, the five year old crawled down and kissed Felicity’s stomach, whispering, “Goodnight, baby.”

Minutes later, both his wife and son were snoring, fast asleep in each other’s arms, and both of them wrapped in Oliver’s protective embrace.

His family was incredible.

Oliver never would have expected this to be his life, the consequence of going hunting and stumbling on a girl lost in the forest six years ago.

But now, he wouldn’t give it up for the world.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Please leave kudos and comment below :)
> 
> Twitter: @lexiblackbriar  
> Tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13


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